Optical zoom module based on two deformable mirrors for mobile device applications

In recent years, optical zoom functionality in mobile devices has been studied. Traditional zoom systems use motors to change separation of lenses to achieve the zoom function, but these systems result in long total length and high power consumption, which are not suitable for mobile devices. Adopting micromachined polymer deformable mirrors in zoom systems has the potential to reduce thickness and chromatic aberration. In this paper, we propose a 2x continuous optical zoom system with five-megapixel image sensors by using two deformable mirrors. In our design, the thickness of the zoom system is about 11 mm. The effective focal length ranges from 4.7 mm at a field angle of 52 degrees to 9.4 mm. The f-number is 4.4 and 6.4 at the wide-angle and telephoto end, respectively. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America